Norman Rockwell Painting Story
Norman Rockwell’s paintings are known for capturing the essence of Americana. This assignment entails you using clues from the painting to tell the story behind what’s going on through cohesive writing that utilizes details from the picture to support claims you’ve created.
- Specifics: Study each picture and look for clues that help tell the story behind what is going on in the picture.
- Ranch Truck
- Suitcase with college pennant sticker/ books
- Train tracks
- Father Holding both hats
- Red Lantern
- Dog on boy’s leg
- Boy holding lunch
- Inductions: Hypothesize what the detail might mean for the characters in the story. What does the detail represent and how might it affect the story?
- Ranch Truck- they live in the middle of nowhere, hard workers
- Suitcase with sticker- Boy maybe leaving to college? He looks on in anticipation for train? Dressed in nice clothes, leaving home?
- Train tracks- Train station?
- Father holding both hats- One last act for the boy? Represents him holding on to the moment? Represents him taking over all the work the boy did for him?
- Red Lantern- Need to flag down train? Truck is right by tracks so rural?
- Dog on boy’s leg- Dog knows boy is leaving, is sad and is getting some love?
- Conclusions- After finding specifics and making inductions, come to a conclusion as to what is going on in the picture. Practice your academic essay writing by using the details in your analysis to support your claims. Focus on different aspects of the painting in different paragraphs.
The boy in the painting is heading off to college. His suitcase with a sticker of a college pennant and which is piled high with books details his destination and he is excited, as he looks on in anticipation of the future toward the coming train. He is wearing his best clothes and is set to impress, and his dad is holding his old work hat. The boy is travelling a distance and his mother has packed him a lunch to eat on the train to quell his hunger as he travels.
The father in the picture is heartbroken. He holds two hats now, and will have to do all of the work on the farm as his boy is leaving. He is a hard worker on his ranch as he has tough skin and a beaten in truck. He is dressed in opposition to his son, wearing denim, the uniform of the blue collar man. The father looks down the opposite way of the track that the train is coming and wants to hold on to the past. He’ll miss his boy and is turned toward him to keep that closeness as long as possible.
The family lives in a rural part of land as they are not at a formal train station. There is no platform and they are sitting on their truck which is parked right next to the tracks. They have to use a red lantern and flag to wave down the train to stop for them.
Your turn.
Choose two of the four Norman Rockwell paintings and create your own story using the method of induction above. Find details and list them out and make inductions to hypothesize possible reasons for Rockwell including that detail, then write multiple paragraphs that tell the story of the picture using the details you’ve chosen as support for your claims.